The production of bladed rotors and stators is a critical element in the production of gas turbines. Means of producing bladed elements of the required accuracy without incurring excessive costs are always being sought. The present invention describes a method wherein accurately formed blades, manufactured by such methods as rolling, extruding, coining, etc., are accurately positioned and retained by casting continuous rings around their ends.
The method described has the further advantage that materials can be selected to separately optimize the properties of the blade and the rings. For example, steel blades having good abrasion and fatigue resistance can be cast into light weight aluminum rings.